2023-04-04 11:59:48
A new death from the Marburg virus was announced on Monday April 3, after the epidemic has been raging for more than two months in Equatorial Guinea. Ten people have already lost their lives and ten others are hospitalized.
The epidemic has also already killed five people in Tanzania where it appeared two weeks ago. These are only two small outbreaks for the moment, but the World Health Organization (WHO) is concerned about potential contamination in neighboring countries, in particular Gabon and Cameroon.
Symptoms
Marburg virus is a very dangerous pathogen that causes high fever, headaches and diarrhoea, often accompanied by bleeding affecting several organs and reducing the body’s ability to function properly.
The incubation period (the time between infection and the onset of symptoms) ranges from two to twenty-one days. In fatal cases, death occurs eight to nine days after the onset of symptoms and is usually preceded by profuse blood loss.
The Marburg virus is part of the filovirus family, to which the Ebola virus also belongs, which has already caused several deadly epidemics in Africa. Its clinical symptoms are close to this virus and other pathologies such as malaria, typhoid fever, cholera and other viral hemorrhagic fevers.
An African bat
The natural host of the Marburg virus is an African fruit bat, Rousettus aegypticus, who is a carrier but does not fall ill. However, it can transmit it to primates living near it, including humans. Human-to-human transmission then takes place through contact with blood, other bodily fluids of infected persons or with surfaces and materials contaminated by these fluids.
“Burial ceremonies in which there is direct contact with the body of the deceased may also contribute to the spread of Marburg virus diseasesays the WHO, infected people remain contagious as long as the virus is present in their blood. »
The average lethality rate of this disease is around 50%, even if good patient care can greatly reduce this rate. It has varied from 24% to 88% in previous outbreaks, depending on viral strain and case management.
Uganda green monkeys
To date, despite research undertaken for more than half a century, there is no approved vaccine or antiviral treatment to treat the virus. However, supportive care – oral or intravenous rehydration – and treatment of specific symptoms increase the chances of survival.
Marburg virus disease was first detected in 1967, when outbreaks occurred simultaneously in Marburg and Frankfurt in Germany, and in Belgrade in Serbia. “They were linked to laboratory work on African green monkeys imported from Uganda”, explains the WHO. From the 1990s, outbreaks and sporadic cases were reported in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, South Africa (in a person who had traveled shortly before to Zimbabwe) and Uganda.
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